Mary Chandler

Traveller's Joy

Traveller's Joy - Two Walking Tunes for Oboe and Piano was composed in 1956. This is the first time the piece has been published. No. 1 is set on the ABRSM Woodwind Syllabus 2026.

Mary Chandler was born in Kent in 1911. She studied music privately, and her teachers included Harry Farjeon (composition), Margaret Eliot and Leon Goossens (oboe) and Harold Craxton (piano). She read English at Oxford University and taught in London schools before joining the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra as principal oboist. She appeared with the CBSO as soloist (oboe and piano) and composer and gave broadcasts and recitals in the Midlands. Later, as a free-lance orchestral player, she formed the Mercian Trio (flute, oboe and piano) which gave concerts around the country.

In 1960 Mary became Area Director of the Kent Music School, in charge of its wind teaching and of the varied activities of its Tonbridge Music Centre. She conducted many student groups and composed and arranged music for them until she retired in 1971. She continued to be actively involved in music thereafter, examining, composing and organising concerts. She spent her later years in Gloucestershire and died in 1996.

Dr. Kristin Leitterman is currently the Assistant Professor of Oboe at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro, Arkansas, USA, where she teaches oboe and bassoon, Double Reed Techniques, and coaches small chamber ensembles. She is also the Director of the Lucarelli Oboe Master Class, a week-long immersive oboe master class founded by Bert Lucarelli in 1996. As a guest artist she has presented master classes at many institutions, including the Manhattan School of Music, New York University, and the Hartt School.

As a researcher, Kirstin has interests in the life and works of Mary Chandler. She has presented her research at The Juilliard School, Music by Women Festival, the International Double Reed Society conferences, and the Brazilian Double Reed Society's conference in João Pessoa, Paraíba, Brazil.